An Alberta government task force has recommended that the use of COVID-19 vaccines be halted unless more information is provided about risk, in a report rife with suggestions that run counter to mainstream scientific consensus.
The $2-million task force’s final report, released Friday, touched on several points common with disinformation campaigns such as the effectiveness of public health restrictions and masking, while also recommending some government authority over media.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, in the fall of 2022, directed the government’s then-health minister to strike a panel to review pandemic data and provide recommendations. The Globe and Mail, in April, first revealed details about the task force, which was led by Gary Davidson, a physician who claimed the province manipulated statistics to introduce restrictions and exaggerated pressure on hospitals during the height of the pandemic.
The task force’s composition and report reflect Ms. Smith’s skepticism toward how governments around the world responded to the pandemic. The final report, for example, revealed that Jay Bhattacharya was among its 13 panelists. U.S. President Donald Trump nominated Dr. Bhattacharya to run the National Institutes of Health. In 2020, Dr. Bhattacharya co-authored the Great Barrington Declaration, which argued against public-health measures such as lockdowns.
The 269-page report is a sweeping criticism of the government’s response and defence of contrarian arguments, such as the value of drugs such as ivermectin, which scientists determined were ineffective in warding off and treating COVID-19.
The task force took aim at vaccines, which Alberta and other Canadian jurisdictions required in order to access public gatherings and businesses. Alberta launched a vaccine passport system in September, 2021, and while it ended in early 2022, physicians still recommend booster shots.
The task force “recommends halting the use of COVID-19 vaccines without full disclosure of their potential risks, ending their use in healthy children and teenagers, conducting further research into their effectiveness, establishing support for vaccine-injured individuals, and providing an opt-out mechanism from federal public health policy,” the report said.
Ms. Smith, prior to becoming premier, railed against Alberta’s management of the pandemic, particularly vaccine mandates and restrictions on gatherings. She promoted drugs, such as the antiparasitic drug ivermectin, and also travelled to the United States to receive Janssen’s single-dose shot because she was skeptical of mRNA vaccines.
The task force concluded federal and provincial health authorities took a “restrictive approach” to certain drugs including ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine, which is used to treat malaria.
Both drugs gained popularity in right-wing and anti-vaccination circles as COVID-19 remedies, although the medical community insists there is no evidence supporting their effectiveness against the coronavirus.